Rasearch and account free essay sample

Worries at Winterbourne View Hospital previously became known after a charge nurture raised the issues with the medical clinic in October 2010 and his claims were given to the neighborhood authority, South Gloucestershire committee, in its ability as lead shielding office and afterward transferred to the CQC in December 2010 however nothing was finished. In May 2011 the BBC discharged covert film about the shocking way defenseless inhabitants at Winterbourne View Hospital were being dealt with, when the recording was discharged it came into light that the proprietors of Winterbourne View, wellbeing controllers, neighborhood wellbeing administrations and the police had neglected to follow up on expanding notice signs. On the 18TH June 2011 the CQC distributed its discoveries following an assessment of administrations gave at Winterbourne View. In the wake of considering a scope of proof examiners infer that the enlisted supplier, Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd, had neglected to guarantee that individuals living at Winterbourne View were satisfactorily shielded from hazard, including the dangers of dangerous practices by its own staff. We will compose a custom paper test on Rasearch and record or on the other hand any comparable subject explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page The report presumes that there was a fundamental inability to ensure individuals or to explore charges of misuse. The supplier had fizzled in its lawful obligation to tell the Care Quality Commission of genuine occurrences including wounds to patients or events when they had disappeared. Auditors said that staff didn't seem to comprehend the requirements of the individuals in their consideration, grown-ups with learning inabilities, complex needs and testing conduct. Individuals who had no foundation in care administrations had been selected, references were not generally checked and staff were not prepared or managed appropriately. Some staff were too prepared to even think about using techniques for restriction without thinking about other options. The survey started following CQC was educated that the BBC TV program Panorama had accumulated proof more than a while including mystery recording to show genuine maltreatment of patients at the middle. Controllers who visited Winterbourne View thought about making dire move to close the middle, however concluded that it was to the greatest advantage of the patients to permit NHS and neighborhood authority commissioner’s further an ideal opportunity to discover elective situations. CQC guaranteed that there would be a quick stop on affirmations and that additional staff would be acquired to ensure patients until they could be moved. At the point when they were fulfilled that those game plans were set up, CQC made implementation move to expel the enlistment of Winterbourne View, the lawful procedure to shut down an area. The clinic shut in June. The report is loaded with risky practices, for example, ‘The suppliers had fizzled in its lawful obligation to advise the Care Quality Commission of genuine occurrences including wounds to patients or events when they had disappeared. ’  ‘Staff didn't seem to comprehend the requirements of the individuals in their consideration, grown-ups with learning handicaps, complex needs and testing conduct. ’ Winterbourne see was not ‘compliant with 10 of the fundamental guidelines which the law requires suppliers must meet. ’  ‘People who had no foundation in care administrations had been enrolled, references were not generally checked and staff were not prepared or managed appropriately. ’ ‘Some staff were too prepared to even think about using strategies for restriction without thinking about other options. ’ REPORT 2 ‘In July 2006, Steven Hoskin was discovered dead at the base of a 100-foot railroad viaduct in St Austell, Cornwall. He had been tormented for quite a long time before his demise, enduring different wounds incurred upon him by various culprits. He had been tied up, hauled round by a lead, detained, ignited with cigarettes, mortified and more than once savagely mishandled in his own home over some undefined time frame. He had been compelled to make a bogus admission that he was a pedophile and forced into taking a deadly portion of paracetamol tablets. At long last he was taken to the viaduct and constrained over the railings before one of the culprits stepped on his fingers until he let go. Steven was a 38-year-elderly person with learning inabilities. His homicide was the perfection of progressing misuse. Five individuals were included the evening of his demise. The instigator was Darren Stewart, 29, who had moved into Steven’s level alongside his sweetheart. Different culprits were Martin Pollard, 21, Stewart’s sweetheart Sarah Bullock, 16, and two male young people, who can't be named for lawful reasons. The two male youngsters participated in the torment and embarrassment of Steven yet left before he had to take the tablets and taken to the viaduct. Steven’s demise followed a progression of harsh occurrences happening over a time of months that various offices, including police, wellbeing administrations, lodging and social administrations, had been made aware of at some stage. Chances to mediate to end the maltreatment were missed. Steven had been distinguished as having learning incapacities as a kid and various offices and associations came into contact with him all through his lifetime. He went to a NHS Assessment and Treatment Unit for people with learning inabilities and emotional well-being issues. He was evaluated by Adult Social Care as having ‘substantial need’ and designated week after week visits. Social administrations didn't direct a hazard appraisal when consenting to stop these week after week visits at Steven’s demand, after he was gotten to know by Stewart. Different social insurance visits, including a crisis emergency vehicle call after Steven had been ambushed, were not answered to the police or grown-up assurance. When the Adult Care support stopped, Steven reached the police on various events, without continuous follow up occurring. There were various 999 calls to the property yet these were treated as individual occasions and not connected. His significantly expanded contact with police and wellbeing administrations in the period following the end of week after week visits didn't trigger a shielding referral. Steven’s landowner, Ocean Housing Group, knew that he was a ‘vulnerable adult’, that youngsters were continually sticking around his bedsit and that he had a tenant who was ‘dangerous’ and authorities ought not visit the settlement alone. They didn't intercede to address why Steven turned into the subject of regular neighbor grumblings after Stewart moved in with him or contact grown-up assurance to make them aware of their interests. ’ The hazardous practices in this report are clear, for example, ‘Steven’s demise followed a progression of damaging episodes happening over a time of months that various offices, including police, wellbeing administrations, lodging and social administrations, had been made aware of at some stage. ’ ‘He was surveyed by Adult Social Care as having ‘substantial need’ and assigned week by week visits. Social administrations didn't direct a hazard appraisal when consenting to stop these week by week visits at Steven’s demand, after he was become a close acquaintence with by Stewart. ’ ‘His significantly expanded contact with police and wellbeing administrations in the period following the suspension of week by week visits didn't trigger a protecting referral. ’ ‘Various social insurance visits, including a crisis emergency vehicle call after Steven had been ambushed, were not answered to the police or grown-up protection. Steven’s landowner, Ocean Housing Group, knew that he was a ‘vulnerable adult’, yet didn't intercede to address why Steven turned into the subject of continuous neighbor grievances after Stewart moved in with him or contact grown-up security to make them aware of their interests.

Creatine in Athletes Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Creatine in Athletes As an ever increasing number of individuals are playing proficient, university and secondary school sports each year (Debate), the opposition for playing time has gotten progressively warmed. Most male competitors in any games nowadays are searching for any kind of edge that they can get over the individuals who are battling for a similar spot they are. These fights for playing time become so warmed that these children are happy to attempt pretty much anything to win. Most children are not ready to take a stab at anything unlawful like steroids, yet something fundamentally the same as steroids is an enhancement called creatine. Creatine is currently the most generally utilized enhancement in games today (Debate). The game that creatine is most regularly utilized in at any level is football. The purpose behind this is on the grounds that creatine is best when the muscles are utilized for a short 6 seconds, at that point a long 45 second rest. The timeframe of utilizing muscles for 6 seconds and afterward resting for 45 seconds is firmly identified with a football match-up where the players run a play, at that point get the chance to rest until the following play is called. At the expert degree of football, most groups are permitted to take creatine, yet a few groups are have prohibited the utilization of it in light of the fact that nobody realize the drawn out impacts yet (Actions and Effects). Creatine has become so generally utilized due to its endorsers. Shannon Sharpe, who played for the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens, is paid publicist and endorser. Sharpe claims that creatine has had a major influence in his prosperity regardless of what any other person says. I couldn't care less on the off chance that you get five PhD's, I couldn't care less on the off chance that you get seven quality and molding mentors to disclose to me in any case, Sharpe told ESPN. I trust it works for me. Shannon Sharpe isn't the main football playe... ...re engaging for playing time in sports, the more urgent the games will get the opportunity to win that spot. At the point when competitors get edgy, they are happy to have a go at whatever may help their odds of playing (Debate). Works Cited â€Å"Actions and Effects of Creatine.† 2003. CourseworkBank.co.uk. 5 October 2004. <http://www.courseworkbank.co.uk/coursework/actions_effects_creatine_2931/>. â€Å"Creatine Supplements.† 2002. Your Orthopedic Connection. 6 October 2004. <http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/truth/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=325&topcategory=Spor ts%20%2F%20Exercise>. â€Å"Debate Surrounds Use of Muscle Supplement Creatine.† 2004. Web MD Health. 4 October 2004. <http://my.webmd.com/content/article/17/1676_50201.htm>. Martinez, Mark. â€Å"Creatine a Bigger Body.† 2004. The College Student Site.Com. 5 October 2004. <http://articles.student.com/article/creatine>.

An Introduction to Iambic Pentameter

An Introduction to Iambic Pentameter At the point when we discuss the meter of a sonnet, we are alluding to its general musicality, or, all the more explicitly, the syllables and words used to make that cadence. One of the most intriguing in writing is measured rhyming, which Shakespeare almost constantly utilized when writing in refrain. The vast majority of his plays were likewise written in predictable rhyming, aside from lower-class characters, who talk in composition. Iamb What Iamb So as to comprehend measured rhyming, we should initially comprehend what an iamb is. Just, put an iamb (or iambus) is a unit of pushed and unstressed syllables that are utilized in a line of verse. Here and there called a rhyming foot, this unit can be a solitary expression of two syllables or two expressions of one syllable each. For example, the word plane is one unit, with air as the focused on syllable and plane as the unstressed. In like manner, the expression the pooch is one unit, with the as the unstressed syllable and canine as the stressed.â Assembling the Feet Predictable rhyming alludes to the quantity of all out syllables in a line of verse for this situation, 10, made out of five sets of exchanging unstressed and focused on syllables. So the mood winds up seeming like this: ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM/ba-BUM The vast majority of Shakespeare’s renowned lines fit into this musicality. For instance: On the off chance that mu-/ - sic be/the food/of adoration,/play on(Twelfth Night) In any case, delicate! /What light/through far off/ - der win-/ - dow breaks?(Romeo and Juliet) Musical Variations In his plays, Shakespeare didn’t consistently stick to ten syllables. He frequently messed with rhyming meterâ to give shading and feeling to his character’s discourses. This is the way to understanding Shakespeares language. For example, he now and then included an extra unstressed beat toward the finish of a line to underline a characters state of mind. This variety is known as a ladylike closure, andâ this renowned inquiry is the ideal model: To be,/or not/to be:/that is/the ques-/ - tion(Hamlet) Reversal Shakespeare likewise turns around the request for the worries in certain iambi to help underline certain words or thoughts. On the off chance that you take a gander at the fourth iambus in the statement from Hamlet above, you can perceive how he has put an accentuation on the word â€Å"that† by upsetting the burdens. Incidentally, Shakespeare will totally defy the guidelines and spot two focused on syllables in a similar iambus, as the accompanying citation illustrates: Presently is/the success/ - ter of/our dis-/content(Richard III) In this model, the fourth iambus underlines that it is â€Å"our discontent,† and the principal iambus accentuates that we are feeling this â€Å"now.† Why Is Iambic Pentameter Important? Shakespeare will consistently highlight unmistakably in any conversation of poetic pattern since he utilized the structure with incredible smoothness, particularly in his works, however he didn't imagine it. Or maybe, it is a standard artistic show that has been utilized by numerous authors when Shakespeare. Students of history don't know how the discourses were perused out loud whether conveyed normally or with an accentuation on the focused on words. This is irrelevant. The main thing is that the investigation of predictable rhyming gives us a brief look into the inward operations of Shakespeare’s composing procedure, and imprints him as an ace of mood to bring out explicit feelings, from emotional to amusing.

Cold War Coursework - 275 Words

Cold War (Coursework Sample) Content: COLD WARName of StudentInstitution affiliationCold War The Cold War era began after the end of WWII. United States viewed the growing influence of Soviet Union as a threat to its national security. The Cold War occurred due to the difference in ideologies of America, its allies and the Soviet Union. This led to hostile situations such as Cuban missile crisis, and ground combats in Vietnam and Korea in 1950s and 1980s. The global political order became bipolar with America as leader of the Capitalist Western World and USSR as the champion of Communist Regimes. The conflict between these Super Powers led to a series of aggressive situations in the decades that succeeded the commencement of Cold War. The Presidential Administrations from Truman to Nixon handled the Cold War crises in different ways. Truman and Eisenhower were in favor of the policy of containment of Communism, Kennedy supported their agenda. According to this policy, United States and its allies used a ll means necessary to stop the spread of Communism in all parts of the world. This involved competition with them in terms of technological warfare as well as acquisition of support in geo-strategic locations. The American foreign policy stemmed out of the deep rooted fear of spread of Communism. Accordingly, the Cold War with USSR remained a major determinant of the foreign policy during the latter half of 20th century. The primary doctrine sought to grant freedom to people living under dictatorships and Communist Regimes. Polarization of Europe into heavily guarded Eastern and Western Europe, formation of NATO, establishment of military basis around the world and nuclear armament are important consequences of the American foreign policy in the Cold War period. The Cold War tactics impacted the American society greatly. The fear that Communist USSR will take over United States ran rampant among the masses. There was fear of Communism, and breakout of a nuclear war between US and USSR. It resulted in mass attitude of protection from possible nuclear strikes, drills, bomb shelters and so on. To sum up, the American society became frenzied with the idea of a nuclear apocalypse. ReferencesIsbouts, J., Johnson, B. D. (Writers), Johnson, B. D. (Director). (1999).Super Powers Collide&n...

Dealing With Insider Trading In Business Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1366 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The financial services play a vital role in the UK economy. Banks, pension funds, professional trade bodies, individuals and stockholders are engaged in this complex process. All participants try to raise capital and gain from trading using range of methods. This can be a cause of different types of behaviour of the participants. Seven types of behaviour as defined in section 118 of FSMA are the civil offence and the first of them is an insider dealing. Insider dealing when an insider deals, or tries to deal, on the basis of inside information. (FSMA, section 118). In other words insider dealing is using information which should be confidential in making investment decisions. Knowledge of a piece of confidential information and using any information that is not publicly available can lead to a different outcomes such as destabilising markets, decreasing of market efficiency, damaging companies and their shareholders and undermining investor confidence. From these points it can be seen that insider dealing is the threat to the stable and fair operation of financial markets and is considered as an offence. For this reason, the law and regulatory bodies of the UK stock market play very important role. In the case of insider dealing there are always guilty insiders and victims because any profit accruing to an insider means a loss to other participants i.e. victims (Mervyn and Ailsa, 1993). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Dealing With Insider Trading In Business Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Insider trading was not considered as criminal offence at the beginning of the twentieth century. It became a criminal offence in the UK since 1980 when sections 69-73, Part V of the Companies Act 1980 came into force. Part V of the 1980 Act was re-enacted in the 1985 Company Securities (Insider Dealing) Act 1985 and finally amended by the Financial Services Act 1986 (MAD). The SFO and DTI dealt with insider dealing but serious cases of insider dealing didnt disclose. This was the result of problems in detection, limited resources and high cost of prosecution. (GP Gilligan Regulating the Financial Services Sector 1999, chapter 6, p.186). Further reform came from the European Community in 1989 and as a result implementation of the Directive in the UK resulted in Part V of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. The Criminal Justice Act 1993 (CJA 1993) represented an extension of the basis of liability for the insider dealing offence. The offence of insider dealing is set out in Section 52(1) o f the CJA 1993. The elements of the offence have detailed definitions which are contained both within primary and secondary legislation. There are three ways in which individual can commit an offence under the Section 52: dealing in securities; encouraging another person to deal in securities; disclosing inside information (CJA 1993). Under the Section 57 of CJA 1993 there are two types of insider: a primary insider is a person who has direct knowledge of inside information; secondary insider is a person who knows inside information from the inside source. Overall, Part V of the CJA 1993 presents a wider definition of securities and insider than the Act 1985. Large cases have been prosecuted under the CJA 1993 but it was very difficult to detect and prove an offence under the criminal law because of the high evidentiary requirements to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the guilt of the defendant. Today there is a huge amount of information available for people and hence a wide range o f reasons present to explain their actions. That is why it can be impossible to detect and often cases are built on circumstantial evidence. The CJA 1993 mostly focuses on individuals prosecution and ignore corporations because the term individual excludes corporations (Kern Alexander, Insider dealing and market abuse: the financial services and markets act 2000, Working paper No.222, 2001). UK is a leading interantional financial centre and its position depends on its reputation as clean and fair market. So it became necessary to complement existing criminal law and fill the gap. FSMA reduces this gap and makes the offence applicable to the corporations and individuals. Since 2000 insider dealing became one form of market abuse after the FSA was established and began to consider these as civil offence. FSA was established in 2000 under the FSMA 119 and now it is the single and main UK regulator which is responsible for authorizing and regulating financial services companies in the UK. The main objectives of FSA: market confidence; public awareness; financial stability; consumer protection; the reduction of financial crime. The regulation of insider dealing under these objectives is consistent with the market confidence, financial stability and the reduction of financial crime. FSMA gave the FSA new powers, a wide range of rule making and responsibilities such as to take action to prevent market abuse and to prosecute insider dealing. It can take actions for breaches of the FSAs Principles for Business. The following Principles for Business permits the FSA to impose a wide range of sanctions as penalties, banning individuals from the industry and rem oving authorised activities: integrity principle; skill, care and diligence; management and control; financial prudence; market conduct; customers interests; communications with clients; conflicts of interest; customers: relationships of trust; clients assets; relations with regulators (the official website of FSA). Under FSMA 119, the FSA is required to produce a Code of Market Conduct, indicating behaviour amounting to market abuse. The Market Abuse Directive (MAD) came into force in the UK on 1 July 2005 through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Market Abuse) Regulations 2005 and through changes to FSA rules (MAD). It is a common approach among EU member states. In 2005 it presented a Code of Market Conduct, which contains the standards that should be observed by anyone who uses the UKs financial markets in the UK or overseas. The Code brings transparency to all market users and everyone should be able to understand what standards are required when dealing on UK markets. As a result, insider dealing is one of the seven types of behaviour that constitutes market abuse under the MAD. These legislative changes provided FSA with the gteater flexibility and ability to choose between criminal or civil proceedings in relation to insider dealing. The complex nature of insider dealing cases requires the FSA to work with the agencies such the Serious Organised Crime Agency, City of London Police and other crime detection agencies. Criminal Cases for insider dealing since 1981 to 2010: total Cases number is 26, 15 of them are the cases regarding the offences being a financial adviser or acting on information from an adviser, only two cases considered as a rings. Civil Cases for Market Abuse since 2003 to 2010: total number of Cases is 37, 19 of them are regarding insider dealing. The largest case was the one of Shell. The result of his unprecedented misconduct in relation to misstatements of its proved reserves was the fine of pound;17 million (Barnes, Paul (2010): Insider dealing and market abuse: the UKs record on enforcement). Ethics means a set of moral principles and values which represent the main basis of Ethical behaviour. Ethical behaviour in the financial services industry is critical. Good ethical behaviour or high ethical standards can make the financial services industry credible and attract new investors. So, the public trust is the key element of successful financial services industry. The CFA institute provides the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct which teach market participants how to maintain good ethical behaviour in practise because in this industry where every day people handle other peoples money the opportunities to be unethical arise every day (H.Kent Baker, CFA, Good Ethics: an overview, 1994). 1.Insider Trading sp4, Jan 1988, Ailsa Rouml;ell, Mervyn Allister King 2. Barnes, Paul, Insider dealing and market abuse: the UKs record on enforcement. MPRA Paper No. 25585 (October 2010). Available at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/25585/ 3. https://www.9bedfordrow.co.uk/92/?form_87.replyids=1 Abbas Lakha QC , Matthew Banham, 1 April 2010 The FSA and insider dealing 4. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1993/36/section/52 CJA 1993 (Abbas Lakha QC, Matthew Banham The FSA and insider dealing April 2010). 5. INSIDER DEALING AND MARKET ABUSE: THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000, ESRC Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge, Working Paper No. 222, Kern Alexander, December 2001. https://ideas.repec.org/p/cbr/cbrwps/wp222.html 6. Good Ethics: An Overview H. Kent Baker, CFA AIMR Conference Proceedings, April 1994, Vol. 1994, No. 4:1-7. Abstract| PDF(489K)| Linked PDF(503K)| Related https://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2469/cp.v1994.n4.1

Symbolic Interactionism And Social Psychology - 1407 Words

The application paper Symbolic interactionism is considered to be part of the building block of micro-sociological thinking, related to anthropology and social psychology that bases the understanding of the society in communication and has greatly influenced the studies on media. This theory suggest that human interaction and communication is facilitated by words, gesture and other symbols that have acquired conventionalized meaning (Dictioinary). Symbolic interaction is a range of ideas that discuss how we as humans interact with the symbols of society. In this Paper will discuss the theory of Symbolic interactionism, its three premises that make up the theory, the roles of three major theorist that led to the development of the symbolic†¦show more content†¦The second premise indicates that the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction between humans. This reminds me of myself as I was growing up. My mother primarily raised me and showed me right from wron g. She taught me religion, not to steal and many essential things in life. Her socialization over time, allowed me to attach meaning to certain things in life. When I see elders I know to respect them, when I see people in need I learned to help. The third premise suggests that these meaning are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he encounters (Blumer, 1984). This premise simply means that we can all hear the same thing but may interpret them differently from one another. The meaning we attached to things may change over time. In some cases, new experiences, or social interaction may change the way you views things thus giving it different meaning. Many theorist have shown interest in the Symbolic Interaction theory. But there’s three theorist that were heavily involved in the development of the concept. Herbert Blumer, George Herbert Mead, and Charles H Cooley were the pioneers that laid the groundwork. E ach of the theorist had a distinct view on human group conduct. Despite the differences in views there were many similarities which gave full meaning to the theory.Show MoreRelatedSymbolic Interactionism Was Proposed By J. Mead1440 Words   |  6 PagesThe theory of symbolic interactionism was proposed by J. Mead. He identifies two levels of interaction: non-symbolic and symbolic. The difference between them is that non-symbolic interaction is a characteristic of living nature, whereas a symbolic interaction is common for human society only. The scientist believed that people react not only to the actions of others but also to their intentions. It means that they unravel the intentions of other people, analyzing their actions, putting themselvesRead MoreSymbolic Interaction: My Favorite Sociological Theory1235 Words   |  5 Pagesaffiliation Authors note My Favorite Sociological Theory There were several theories that I found interesting as a part of the course, yet the theory that I connected with most personally was Symbolic Interaction. This theory was established first by George Herbert Mead, who coined the phrase symbolic interactionism first. The theory has been present in the field of sociology for several decades, and after the death of Mead, other sociologists took on the theory in their own works, studies, and theoriesRead MoreSymbolic Interactionism, By George Herbert Mead And Charles Horton Cooley937 Words   |  4 Pages Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective that is influential in many areas of the sociological discipline. It is particularly important in microsociology and social psychology. 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To successfully study sociology all three theories must be applied together. CriticalRead MoreWhen Should Transgender Identification Begin - Youth or Adulthood866 Words   |  4 Pagesa young age, or later, in adulthood. In regards to sociology, symbolic interactionism is ideal for examining the way in which sociological theory relates to transgender issues. This is because symbolic interactionism is the study of how people relate to one another and their environment, but specifically how the relations between each other have an effect on their environment. Blumer’s conceptualization of symbolic interactionism, known as the situational approach is the one most often used inRead MoreGeorge Herbert Mead s Theory Of Id, Ego, And Superego1029 Words   |  5 Pagesperiod. Mead’s work was the foundation of the symbolic interactionism theory, his three main concepts of that approach are preparatory, play, and game stage, and his theory can be seen in actions by gender roles. Sense George Herbert Mead’s work was the foundation for symbolic interactionism, it should be safe to say, that his papers reflected that work. Mead’s work studied the ways the self-forms in a sociality through interactions using symbolic communications. The work studied children’s interactionsRead MoreSymbolic Interactionism1727 Words   |  7 PagesSymbolic interactionism, or interactionism for short, is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. This perspective has a long intellectual history, beginning with the German sociologist and economist, Max Weber and the American philosopher, George H. Mead, both of whom emphasized the subjective meaning of human behavior, the social process, and pragmatism. Herbert Blumer, who studied with Mead at the University of Chicago, is responsible for coining the term, symbolic interactionism

Business Level Strategy of GSK Company

Question: Discuss about the Business Level Strategy of GSK Company. Answer: Introduction This paper focuses on the dynamic capabilities of well known pharmaceutical company GSK. It also includes the analysis of capability in context of competition and high level technological environment. About Company GSK pharmaceutical company is a reputed organization in USA. It is a global health care company, which deals in research and development of new and innovative vaccines and other healthcare products for consumers. It also produces the cure for various dangerous diseases like cancer, asthma, infections and mental health. GSK is the leading healthcare company, which has generated revenue of $8222 million in year 2015 (GSK, 2014). It is delivering pharmaceutical products and services in more than 150 countries across globe. Dynamic capabilities of GSK pharmaceutical Dynamic capabilities refer to the ability of an organization to develop the new internal and external competencies to operate in the modern era or environment. Meanwhile, it can also be defined as the capacity of organization to build, adopt and change the competencies as per the competition to take a competitive advantage from the available resources (Davidjteece, 2013). At the same time, renovation in internal and external resources also creates value for the business in competitive market. Resource based view assists the company to gain the higher performance (Rehmanm and Saeed, 2015). Pharmaceutical industry experienced the innovative and modern aspect of competition trends. Meanwhile, the competition structure has been changed globally due to new technologies, strategic developments and resource based approach. Businesses are adopting innovation in the industry to build the competitive advantages in market for effective and efficient use of organizational resources. The organiza tional performance is also a dynamic capability for GSK pharmaceutical and because of it company gets additional benefit to attract potential customers in the market. GSK Pharmaceutical explores the organizational learning to develop and enhance the knowledge in dynamic and competitive era. Development of strategic asset is another dynamic capability for business. GSK pharmaceutical possess the dynamic capabilities that add value in the market performance, growth and strategic policy of the company. At the same time, key trends in pharmaceutical industry impact the business operation of company. In regard to this companys key strength capacity is its new innovation to manufacture effective cure practice of new vaccine. Further, it confers global presence and having strong employee base of approximately 100,000 employees (GSK, 2014). At the same time, GSK possess the experts who develop the innovative pharmaceutical products for curing the diseases. USA market is very sensitive in concern to the perception of consumer where consumer can move towards an efficient service provider. GSK pharmaceutical have many opportunities in the US market to expand the business of company and acquire other pharmaceutical companies. Further, Company focuses on the research and development strategy to acquire new techniques for manufacturing advance healthcare products (GSK, 2017). GSK is also having sound financial power in hand with current asset and fix assets. It generated the revenue of 3681 billion in financial year 2015 (Statista, 2015). In addition to this, it is adopting new technologies to produce new medicines for newly diseases in the environment. Further, it has excellent sales team that manages the global level force to distribute the medicine at every region. GSK has adopted an operating model to produce the product at low cost. Moreover, it has owned fully technological manufacturing laboratories for innovative research. Apart from this, GSK possess intangible dynamic capabilities such as patents of product, portfolio of healthcare and oral care. At the same time, company holds the brand image in the US market. In concern to this, GSK possess the capability to acquire pharmaceutical company to lur e the potential customers out of the market and strengthen the dynamic capability. Implications of dynamic capability in concern to the competitive advantages Dynamic capabilities are the unique capabilities of an organization, which derives values for the business in market to affect the strategy of competitive rivals. These capabilities are acquired and developed through scanning of environment and using the organizational resources. At the same time, reconfiguring the internal assets is also considered as capability of company which strengthens the ability of company. Dynamic capabilities create additional advantage for the company to build the capacity of business to sustain for long time and respond effectively to the fierce competition (Teece, 2011). Further, these capacities are developed as the trends that are moving in the environment through transforming the corresponding competencies. This era of modern business is affected by technology. Dynamic capabilities contribute in multiplying the ability of GSK pharmaceutical and it supports in creation of competitive advantages in market. In concern to pharmaceutical business, the company innovate new medicine because of its expert team of scientist. Further, it is also getting benefits from the brand recognition in the market, which helps the company in attracting new customers which ultimately explores the competition prevailing in the market. In addition to this, strategic management helps the business to analyze the competitive environment and focus on shaping a strategy to strongly develop the changes in concurrent environment. Moreover, organization seeks to grab the opportunities from the market and develop the strategy to defeat the competitors in the market. Whether, dynamic capabilities positively impact the competitive advantages. In regard to this, ability of marketing managers to renew the internal and external resources in pharmaceutical company, adds value thr ough taking effective decision, brings in new mode to face the competition. In addition to this, capacity to acquire small pharmaceutical business is a strategic ability of GSK pharmaceutical, which helps in attainment of the sustainable competitive advantages. Dynamic capabilities improve the performance of business in the market through introducing new tactics in the business model and it becomes an advantage for the firm to sustain for long time. GSK pharmaceutical is able to meet the demand of healthcare products and lure the customers, where it manufactures the medicine for effective cure of the disease. The resources are used to enhance the productivity of business in market and capabilities are better than the resource available because sensible capacity can own the resource for the organization. Intangible capabilities for GSK pharmaceutical are strong brand image, patent of drugs; trademark and intellectual property improve the effectiveness of firm in the market and gain competitive advantage. Competition in the pharmaceutical industry is a big issue for the firms, where GSK need to evaluate the volatile market and build strong position of brand in the market (Ding et. al, 2013). GSK pharmaceutical can set the new way of resource with value, rareness, Imitability and organization (VRIO) framework to capture the new resources and create new opportunities for business. Further, the company is changing with the time and getting the benefit of dynamic capabilities for instance Apple and IBM Inc. These businesses have an extension of dynamic capabilities to compete with the dynamic environment (Helfat, 2013). The dynamic abilities of the GSK pharmaceutical support the business to adopt new technology to retain the current position in the market and develop the effective brand image to experience the higher market value. In USA, market performance of GSK pharmaceutical is too improved which affectively impact the competition in business line. Therefore, it can be stated that dyn amic capabilities are the unique resource for company, through use of which an organization can gain the competitive advantages in market. Differences between Dynamic Capabilities and Resources Dynamic capabilities and resources are used interchangeable but they are different. The dynamic capabilities are drawn from the internal and external resources to create a competitive advantage. From the view point of Barney, the dynamic capabilities can be identified and developed from the SWOT analysis. In addition to this, he explored that internal evaluation of firm assists the business to understand the competitive advantages. Barney differentiated the resources and capabilities into four dimensions such as value, rareness, Imitability and organization (Faizal, Zaidi and Othman, 2011). In concern to the value proponent, strategic managers must identify the impact of gaining advantages of opportunities and neutralize the threats of company. Further, the resources add value in the new environment opportunities. In addition Author explained that the resources should be rare that creates competitive advantages for the firm. He also reviewed that Imitability of resources helps the or ganization to create competitive advantages through substitution development would build a competitive strategy. Barney stated that the capability of firm depends on the value, rareness, Imitability of available resources. He focused on organizing and utilizing competitive resources and capabilities for creation of potential competitive position in market. Implications of dynamic capabilities in context of technological advancement Technology has changed the shape of competition, because the firms are introducing innovative, affective and cost effective products in the market. Dynamic competencies are the unique ability of the company to stay in the technique efficient market (Francisco, 2015). Further, in this technology enable environment, these capacities develop the strategy for business firm to come up with new innovation and focus on tapping the market. If the organization has strategic capacity to manufacture the qualitative products through new technology, it enables the business to invent new method to retain competitive position in market. Dynamic capability specifically reconfigures the resources and creates the new technology enabled products to sustain in the competitive era (Rughami, 2013). Along with this if organization possesses different capabilities like strategic management, efficient technology usage, than it adds value in the performance of organization. Moreover, dynamic capabilities adap t the fast changing environment to develop its strategic efficiency and survive in the technology disrupted environment. It helps the business in retaining the competitive advantages for the firms in fierce competition. On the other hand, high level technological advancements compelled the pharmaceutical company to focus on the development of dynamic ability through research and innovation. It is stated that dynamic capabilities differentiate the business from other companies due to its uniqueness which assist the company to stay ahead in the technologically competitive environment. Conclusion: From the analysis of Teece and Barneys paper of dynamic capability, it can be concluded that dynamic capabilities impact the business operation of companies significantly. It can also be concluded that an organization cannot survive in competitive environment without configuring the unique abilities from the resources. References Davidjteece, (2013) Dynamic Capabilities. Retrieved from: https://davidjteece.com/dynamic-capabilities/ Ding, M., Eliasberg, J. and Stremerch, S. (2013). Innovation and Marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Emerging Practices, Research, and Policies. Germany: Springer Science Business Media. Faizal, M., Zaidi, A. and Othman, S. (2011) Understanding Dynamic Capability as an ongoing concept for Technological Capability. International Journal and Business of Social Science. 2(6), pp. 1-11. Francisco, J. (2015). Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities. Retrieved from: https://unipub.lib.uni-corvinus.hu/2171/1/VT_2015n11p50.pdf GSK, (2014). Annual Report 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/g/LSE_GSK_2014.pdf Helfat, C. (2013) How Apple and IBM change with the times, Retrieved from: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2013/07/02/apple-and-ibm-show-the-power-of-dynamic-capabilities Pisani, G. (2015) A Normative Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategy Know- How and Competition. Retrieved from: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/16-036_3be51325-1fb0-421a-afca-4571d958ebf9.pdf Rehmanm K. and Saeed, Z. (2015). Impact of Dynamic Capabilities on Firm Performance: Moderating Role of Organizational Competencies, Journal of Business Management, 2(2), pp. 1-23. Rughami, J., Aosa, E. (2013). Environmental dynamic capabilities and their effect on competitive advantage and firm performance. Prime Journal of Business Administration and Management. 3(11), pp. 1239-1243. Statista, (2015). https://www.statista.com/statistics/312366/revenue-of-seretide-advair-worldwide-by-region/ Teece, D. (2011). Dynamic Capabilities: A guide for managers. Retrieved from: https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/dynamic-capabilities-a-guide-for-managers/ Wadhwanim R. and Jones, G. (2016). Historical changes and the Competitive advantages of Firms: Explicating the Dynamics in the Dynamic Capabilities Framework. Retrieved from: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/17-052_ce716f44-7adb-40d3-9755-bb311f04c9e8.pdf

The Life Of Anna Arkadyevna Karenina English Literature Essay free essay sample

Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin A -A Anna s hubby, a high-level authorities curate and one of the most of import work forces in St. Petersburg. Karenin is formal and duty-bound. He is cowed by societal convention and invariably presents a unflawed facade of a cultivated and capable adult male. There is something empty about about everything Karenin does in the novel, nevertheless: he reads poesy but has no poetic sentiments, he reads universe history but seems unusually shockable. He can non be accused of being a hapless hubby or male parent, but he shows small tenderness toward his married woman, Anna, or his boy, Seryozha. He fulfills these household functions as he does other responsibilities on his list of societal duties. Karenin s primary motive in both his calling and his personal life is self-preservation. When he out of the blue forgives Anna on what he believes may be her deathbed, we see a intimation of a deeper Karenin ready to emerge. We will write a custom essay sample on The Life Of Anna Arkadyevna Karenina English Literature Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Ultimately, nevertheless, the bland administrative official remains the lone Karenin we know. Alexei Kirillovich VronskyA -A A wealthy and darting military officer whose love for Anna prompts her to abandon her hubby and boy. Vronsky is passionate and caring toward Anna but clearly disappointed when their matter forces him to give up his dreams of calling promotion. Vronsky, whom Tolstoy originally modeled on the Romantic heroes of an earlier age of literature, has something of the idealistic lone wolf in him. Yet there is a dark topographic point at the nucleus of his personality, as if Tolstoy refuses to allow us acquire excessively close to Vronsky s true nature. Indeed, Tolstoy gives us far less entree to Vronsky s ideas than to other major characters in the novel. We can neer rather bury Vronsky s early jilting of Kitty Shcherbatskaya, and we wonder whether he feels guilt about about destroying her life. Even so, Vronsky is more saintly than diabolic at the terminal of the novel, and his intervention of Anna is faultless, even if his feelings toward her cool a spot. Konstantin Dmitrich LevinA -A A socially awkward but generous-hearted landholder who, along with Anna, is the co-protagonist of the novel. Whereas Anna s chase of love terminals in calamity, Levin s long wooing of Kitty Shcherbatskaya finally ends in a happy matrimony. Levin is rational and philosophical but applies his thought to practical affairs such as agribusiness. He aims to be sincere and productive in whatever he does, and resigns from his station in local authorities because he sees it as useless and bureaucratic. Levin is a front man in the novel for Tolstoy himself, who modeled Levin and Kitty s wooing on his ain matrimony. Levin s declaration of religion at the terminal of the novel sums up Tolstoy s ain strong beliefs, taging the start of the deeply spiritual stage of Tolstoy s life that followed his completion of Anna Karenina. Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya ( Kitty ) A -A A beautiful immature adult female who is courted by both Levin and Vronsky, and who finally marries Levin. Modeled on Tolstoy s real-life married woman, Kitty is sensitive and possibly a spot overprotected, shocked by some of the petroleum worlds of life, as we see in her horror-stricken response to Levin s private journals. But despite her indifference to rational affairs, Kitty displays great bravery and compassion in the face of decease when caring for Levin s deceasing brother Nikolai. Stepan Arkadyich Oblonsky ( Stiva ) A -A Anna s brother, a pleasure-loving blue blood and minor authorities functionary whose matter with his kids s governess about destroys his matrimony. Stiva and Anna portion a common inclination to put personal fulfilment over societal responsibilities. Stiva is incorrigible, continuing from his matter with the governess-which his married woman, Dolly, uprightly forgives-to a affair with a danseuse. For Tolstoy, Stiva s moral laxness symbolizes the corruptnesss of big-city St. Petersburg life and contrasts with the powerful moral scruples of Levin. However, despite his evildoings, the amiable Stiva is a hard character to contemn. Darya Alexandrovna Oblonskaya ( Dolly ) A -A Stiva s married woman and Kitty s older sister. Dolly is one of the few people who behave kindly toward Anna after her matter becomes public. Dolly s sympathetic response to Anna s state of affairs and her restrained esteem for Anna s effort to populate her life to the full intimation at the positive facets of Anna s experience. Well acquainted with the adversities of marriage and maternity, Dolly is, more than anyone else in the novel, in a place to appreciate what Anna has left behind by go forthing with Vronsky. The fresh clears with the painful disclosure that Dolly s hubby has betrayed her, and her even more painful consciousness that he is non really penitent. Sergei Alexeich Karenin ( Seryozha ) A -A Karenin and Anna s immature boy. Seryozha is a good-natured male child, but his male parent treats him in cold blood after larning of Anna s matter. Anna shows her devotedness to Seryozha when she risks everything to mouse back into the Karenin family merely to convey birthday nowadayss to her boy. Nikolai Dmitrich LevinA -A Levin s sickly, thin brother. The rationalism Nikolai is mostly estranged from his brothers, but over the class of the novel he starts to pass more clip with Levin. Nikolai is representative of broad societal idea among certain Russian intellectuals of the period ; his reformed-prostitute girlfriend, Marya Nikolaevna, is populating cogent evidence of his unconventional, radically democratic point of view. Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev A -A Levin s stepbrother, a celebrated rational and author whose believing Levin has trouble following. Koznyshev embodies cold intellectualism and is unable to encompass the comprehensiveness of life, as we see when he can non convey himself to suggest to Varenka. Agafya Mikhailovna A -A Levin s former nurse, now his sure housekeeper. Countess Vronsky A -A Vronsky s judgmental female parent. Alexander Kirillovich Vronsky A -A Vronsky s brother. Varvara Vronsky A -A Alexander Vronsky s married woman. Prince Alexander Dmitrievich Shcherbatsky A -A The practical blue blood male parent of Kitty, Dolly, and Natalie. Prince Shcherbatsky favours Levin over Vronsky as a possible hubby for Kitty. Princess Shcherbatskaya A -A Kitty, Dolly, and Natalie s female parent. Princess Shcherbatskaya ab initio urges Kitty to prefer Vronsky over Levin as a suer. Countess Lydia Ivanovna A -A A morally unsloped adult female who is ab initio Anna s friend and subsequently her fiercest critic. Hypocritically, the spiritual Lydia Ivanovna can non convey herself to forgive or even to talk to the fallen adult female Anna. Lydia Ivanovna harbors a secret love for Karenin, and induces him to believe in and trust on psychics. Elizaveta Fyodorovna Tverskaya ( Betsy ) A -A A affluent friend of Anna s and Vronsky s cousin. Betsy has a repute for wild life and moral diarrhea. Marya Nikolaevna A -A A former cocotte saved by Nikolai Levin, whose comrade she becomes. Madame Stahl A -A A apparently devout invalid adult female whom the Shcherbatskys meet at a German watering place. Madame Stahl appears righteous and pious, but Prince Shcherbatsky and others doubt her motives. Varvara Andreevna ( Varenka ) A -A A pure and exalted immature adult female who becomes Kitty s friend at the German watering place. Varenka, who is a protegee of Madame Stahl, about receives a matrimony proposal from Koznyshev. Yashvin A -A Vronsky s wild friend from the ground forces. Yashvin has a leaning for losing big amounts of money at chancing. Nikolai Ivanovich Sviyazhsky A -A A friend of Levin who lives in a faraway state. Fyodor Vassilyevich Katavasov A -A Levin s rational friend from his university yearss. Vasenka Veslovsky A -A A immature, pleasant, slightly dandified adult male whom Stiva brings to see Levin. The attendings Veslovsky lavishes on Kitty make Levin jealous. LandauA -A A Gallic psychic who instructs Karenin to reject Anna s supplication for a divorce.

How to Find the Best Credit Card for You

How to Find the Best Credit Card for You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Trying to choose the right credit card can get overwhelming fast. There are tons of options, and every company claims to offer the best one. How can you sort through the jargon and find the best card for your personal finances? I believe that to choose the right card, you need to understand yourself as a consumer. How can you get started down the road of financial self-discovery? First, take my personal finance quiz below. Personal Finance Quiz: What’s Your Financial Style? You see a lot of conflicting advice out there for credit card seekers. Some people love credit cards, saying that they’re great for building credit and getting nice perks. Others fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, saying that cards are the devil and one should avoid them at all costs. So who’s right? As it turns out, both perspectives are right, depending on which card you choose. If you choose wisely, then you’ll successfully build your credit and potentially see nice rewards in the process. If you choose poorly, then you could find yourself in a pit of debt. The key to choosing is understanding what kind of consumer you are. To find out, take this short quiz. True or False: When I use credit cards, I spend more loosely than I would with cash. I have good self-control. I am often spontaneous. When I use coupons, I get enjoyment beyond the money saved. It’s very important to me that I’m getting the best deal possible down to the very cent. I am frugal. Once you’ve responded to each of the statements above, tally up one point for each of your answers that matches the key below: 1) True; 2) False; 3) True; 4) False; 5) False; 6) False For instance, if I marked every statement as "true," then I’d end up with 2 points (a point for question 1 and a point for question 3). Now, let’s take a look at what these points mean in terms of your financial profile. Assessing Your Financial Profile: What Does Your Score Mean? If you’re going to enter into a credit card contract, then you should do so from a place of self-awareness. I don’t mean the kind of self-awareness that comes from a week-long silent yoga retreat. Instead, I mean that you understand the way you use your money and what motivates you to save or spend. The quiz is all about getting to the root of your spending habits, as well as the psychological reasons behind your actions, like self-control in the face of temptations. Let’s see what each quiz result means, and how you can use your results to find the best credit card for you. Scores of 0 - 2: The Optimizers If you scored somewhere between 0 and 2 on this quiz, then you might be an optimizer (like me!). You enjoy getting every last mile out of things and shopping around for the best possible deals. You do your research, compare prices, seek out sales, and buy when the time is right. If you’re an optimizer, then I would suggest you take the time to analyze your spending habits. Take a look at your budget, and find your top three highest spend categories. You can leave out expenses that you wouldn’t put on a credit card, like rent. Relevant spending categories could include restaurants, entertainment, transportation, and clothes. Once you’ve figured out your biggest spend categories, you should look around for cards with matching rewards. If you spend a lot on travel, then you’d benefit from a travel rewards card. If you love to eat out, then you might prefer a restaurant rewards card. People who commute long distances back and forth to work everyday could get the most mileage from a gas rewards card. If you’re looking to carry more than one card, you could also sign up for a general rewards card that gives you something like 2% back on all of your purchases. I like to have a flat-rate card to fall back on, just in case. Another thing that might appeal to your maximizing mindset? A lot of rewards cards offer sign-up bonuses, giving you several hundred dollars toward travel or as cash back when you spend a minimum amount in the first months of opening an account. The potential downside is that some of these cards have annual fees after the first year. For some people, I’d say that the fee isn’t worth it; the rewards don’t add up enough to make up for the yearly fee. If you’re interested in a card with a fee, then you should break down your spending and see if you would get enough rewards in the long run. Even though rewards like travel points offer psychological benefits- it helps you set aside money specifically for traveling- it might be costing you more money in the long run. So now that you know what kind of cards to look for, what are some specific credit cards that appeal to optimizers? Best Credit Cards for Optimizers These are my suggestion for the best credit cards for optimizers who like to put in a little extra effort to get the best possible deals. Chase Sapphire Preferred This travel rewards card gives you 2X points on restaurants and travel and a point for each dollar that you spend on everything else. You’ll also earn 50,000 bonus points if you earn $4,000 in the first three months. You can redeem points as cash back or use them to book through the Chase search engine. If you use the Chase search tool, then your points will be worth 25% more. The downside of this card is that it charges a $95 annual fee after the first year. Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard This travel rewards card gives you 2X miles on all purchases, plus you get 5% of your miles back when you redeem them. You’re not restricted to any particular airlines or hotels. If you spend $3,000 in the first 90 days of opening an account, then you’ll earn 40,000 bonus miles. After the first year, this card charges an annual fee of $89. Citi Thank You Card This card is good for those who love to eat out. You’ll earn 2X points on every dollar you spend at restaurants. You’ll also get a bonus of 20,000 points if you spend $1,500 in the first three months of opening. This card is seriously restaurant-oriented; it even has a personal concierge service to help you make reservations. The Citi Thank You Card has no annual fee. Discover It Card The Discover It card gives 5% cash back on purchases made in certain categories, like restaurants, online shopping, and gas, that change quarterly. It also gives you 1% cash back on everything else. It has no annual fee. Citi Double Cash Card This card is a great back up for times when you don’t want to think about maximizing your rewards. It offers a flat-rate of 2% cash back on all your purchases. This card is also appealing because it has no annual fee. The only downside is that it doesn’t offer a rewards bonus for opening an account, and those hundreds of dollars in the first few month can be a welcome sign up gift. Now let’s consider the next category of spenders, those who scored in the middle of the road. Scores of 3 - 4: Middle of the Road Spenders If you scored between 3 and 4 on the quiz, then you might be a middle of the road spender. I’d say that the majority of people fall into this category. You have decent self-control, but you’re not obsessive about optimizing savings on all your purchases or maximizing rewards in a certain spending category. If this sounds like you, then I’d suggest getting a flat-rate card. You could get 1 to 2% back on all of your purchases across the board, and you don’t have to think about where you spend your money or what kind of rewards you’ll see. It’s consistent across all spending areas. Of course, getting this card assumes that you won’t change your spending habits because you have a credit card. You don’t want to end up carrying a balance month to month and getting into debt as a result of high interest rates. Just because you can technically charge a huge purchase to a credit card, doesn’t mean you should. If you can’t pay off a purchase within the month, then you should think hard about whether buying it on credit is the way to go. If you’re a middle of the road spender, what specific credit cards would work best for you? Best Credit Cards for Middle of the Road Spenders These are my suggestions for middle of the road spenders who don’t want to keep up with quarterly changes in rewards categories or worry about which card they use for each purchase. For the most part, these cards offer flat-rate rewards on any purchases. Citi Double Cash Card As you saw above, the Citi Double Cash Card is my top pick for a flat rate rewards card. It gives you 2% cash back on all purchases and has no annual fee. Again, the downside is that it doesn’t offer any bonuses for signing up. Capital One Venture Rewards This card gives you travel points at a flat rate of 2 miles on all purchases. If you spend $3,000 in the first three months, then you’ll get a bonus of 40,000 miles. After the first year, this card has an annual fee of $59. Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards This flat-rate card gives you 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make. It offers a $100 bonus after you spend $500 in the first three months. There’s no annual fee. BankAmericard Cash Rewards This card gives you 1% back on every purchase, plus 2% back at grocery stores and 3% on gas. You’ll get a bonus of $100 after you spend $500 in the first 90 days. There’s no annual fee. Finally, let’s consider the third type of spenders who scored highly on the personal finance quiz. Scores of 5 - 6: Spontaneous Spenders If you scored highly on this quiz, then you might find it challenging to control your spending. Maybe you love shopping, for instance, and find it difficult not to splurge every weekend at the mall. With a credit card, you might spend more than you normally would if you were just using cash. If this sounds like, or if you’re worried that a credit card would be too irresistible not to use beyond your means, then you might consider getting a card that puts caps on your spending. You should also compare interest rates and avoid the high ones. There are some credit cards that work like phone cards. You can load them up with a set number of points each month and thereby set a spending limit for yourself. Similarly, you could look into a secured credit card that doesn’t give you very much credit and requires a deposit before you sign on. You could also avoid credit cards altogether and just use your debit card, assuming that it doesn’t have overdrafts or fees. Keep in mind that a debit card takes money directly from your bank account, so it doesn’t help build up your credit. If you’re trying to gain more control over your spending habits and build credit, then you might start with a low-limit card (either secured or not secured). You could self-impose a 6-month probationary period where you look at your budget and figure out whether you’re spending more with a card that you would without one. As you gain control over your personal finances, you can eventually move onto a non-secured or rewards credit card. Below are my suggestions for the best credit cards for spontaneous spenders. Best Credit Cards for Spontaneous Spenders The suggested cards below help you set limits on your spending. There are two secured credit cards and two prepaid debit cards. Capital One Secured Mastercard This card asks you to make a deposit of $49, $99, or $200 and gives you a limit of up to $200 depending on your credit. You need to pay the full amount of your deposit within 80 days. It has no annual fee. Discover It Secured Card This is a rare secured card that also gives you rewards- 2% cash back on up to $1,000 of spending on restaurants and gas and 1% on other purchases. You need to make an initial deposit of $200 with a bank account. Each month, you’ll be automatically evaluated to see if you qualify for a regular, non-secured card. There’s no annual fee. Bluebird This fee-free card, available both to people with bank accounts and to those without, lets you load cash at WalMart stores and deposit through the Bluebird app. Withdrawals are free at MoneyPass ATMs, but they cost fees between $2.50 and $9.00 at other ATMs. This card works wherever merchants accept American Express and has no annual fee. American Express Serve You can order this prepaid card online for free, and no credit check is required. You load it with cash for free at locations like Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, and some 7-Elevens. There’s a $4.95 monthly fee (except in Texas, New York, and Vermont). At this point, you may have noticed that I haven’t talked very much about interest rates. A lot of people think that low and high interest rates are a top consideration when choosing credit cards. I actually take the opposite opinion in the majority of cases. Read on to find out why. What About Interest Rates? Why They Shouldn’t Matter You may have noticed that I didn’t spend much time talking about high and low interest rates in this guide. A lot of people tout interest rates as the first thing to look at when choosing a new credit card. I take the opposite stance, though, and suggest that interest rates should not matter. No credit card has a very appealing interest rate. All of them will add up to a great deal of money and make it very hard for you to get out of debt. In most cases, you should do everything you can to avoid carrying a balance on your card from month to month. If low interest rates feel like a strong priority to you, then you might consider reassessing your approach to personal finances. You should sit down with a money-tracking app, like Mint, or simply an Excel spreadsheet, and list out your spending activity. By reflecting on your finances, outlining a budget, and setting specific goals, you can start to control your spending better. In the meantime, try to use a card that will work with you to control your expenses. Finding the Best Credit Card for You There’s no single best credit card for everyone. Instead, you have to look for the best credit card for you. To find your best match, you should think about your approach to personal finances, how you spend your money, and how you practice self-control. If you tend to spend spontaneously, then you might benefit from having a card that doesn’t test your willpower. If you’re more strategic about your spending and want to maximize rewards, then you should choose a card that will grant you the most perks in the category most valuable to you. As you saw above, there are several cards with advantages for every kind of spender. Your job, then, is to figure out what kind of spender you are! Once you do that, you can sort through all the promotions and sign up for the credit card with the best benefits for you as an individual.

Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique - Term Paper Example The recent information released by American Academy of Ophthalmology shows that the eye related complications are on the increase. The statistics revealed that the people above 40 years are the most vulnerable. This places Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique at a good position to step in and rescue the situation before it gets out of hand. Figures indicate that, the number of Americans who wear scarves and eyeglasses has substantially increased. The latest statistics indicate that approximately 126 millions people use eyeglasses. This is about a half of United States population. To respond and maximise these business opportunities, Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique has embarked on restructuring and re-inventing its market strategies. This will be achieving through embracing the information technology. To seal the gap in the demand and supply, it has plans to install strong database that will bridge the evident deficits in supply and demand chain. This will be a prudent strategy of the enterpri se to go online since it will expand its operations in this ever-changing business world (King and King, 2009). With the knowledge that customers are the strong pillars of a business venture, Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique plans to keep the strong pool of its customers and attract a big number of new customers. To comfortably deal with this new challenge, it will further re-invent its marketing strategy (Madura, 2006). This will ensure it reaches a huge number of customers and the most needed awareness of its eyeglasses, contact lens and scarves. To succeed in this strategy Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique further endeavours to use various ways of marketing. To start with, it will plan to use online tools such as social networks. There is a shift from the traditional way of getting information due to unprecedented technological advancement. People have shifted from the traditional sources of information such as radios and newspapers. In the twenty-first century, internet has become a su perhighway of communication. In the light of this, Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique plans to use management protocols such as oracle. In addition, it intends to install Sibel Marketing Resource Management. Through this software, the firm will improve its marketing skills. This software allows keeping a good track of customers. This will enable the firm to maintain its strong customers and at the same time find ways to boost the low profile one (Madura, 2006). Through the use of this database, Sheas' One of a Kind Boutique sees a great improvement in customer relation. This is because; customers will place their orders online after they have properly evaluated the value of the firm’s products. The company will do price negotiations online too. This saves both the customer and the firm the agony of face-to-face negotiations. On top of this, the delivery of eyeglasses, contact lens, glass cases, and scarves will be customer directed. Moreover, customers will give their feedback. Th is will help the firm to streamline its services to fulfil customers’ expectation. Social networks are now the crucial sites for businesses in the twenty-fast century. The firm intends to maximise facebook, blogs, and twitter to promote wearing of eyeglasses and the scarves. The emerging new culture is working along the visions of the firm. It intends to run several advertisements on its products. Just through a click of a button, customers will access a wide large of Sheas' One of

Individual article analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Policy proposal - Essay Example The death of Laci and her unborn child was cited extensively in the Congressional and Senate debates on the bill. The bill was passed by a Republican-controlled House. It has been a Republican policy to recognize the life of a fetus as long as it is attached to the uterus. Thus, pro-life Republican members of Congress merged their agenda with Laci’s case to energize the government agenda in the house. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act covers the rights of unborn children in the light of criminal violence. The act allows the judiciary to treat the mother and the unborn child as separate entities while dealing with violence against pregnant women (Abrams par. 1). The act also provides that human life begins after implantation in the uterus. Thus, any fetus attached to the uterus is considered a member of the Homo sapiens species. The act allows investigations on the impact of injuring a pregnant woman to the unborn child. Suspects of killing a pregnant woman should be tried on two charges of homicide. In this case, the judiciary would treat the mother and the child as separate legal entities. However, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act does not consider the legal or illegal acts of a mother that harm the unborn children. The uncovered aspects include abortion. As such, a mother cannot be tried for abortion under this law (Congress 6329). Making the bill into law involved several players. The players in this bill include members of Congress, the President, interest groups and political parties. The bill was sponsored by individual members of the Congress. Melissa Hart (R-Pa) moved the bill in the House of Representatives. The house of representatives was the first house to introduce the bill and also debate it. The proposal was sponsored by Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) in the Senate. The bill was tabled in the Senate after adoption and debate in the lower house. The movers of the motion were acting on their beliefs towards life,

A Visit to the Hostess City of the South :: Personal Narrative Writing

A Visit to the Hostess City of the South In 1994 John Berendt whispered a tale of murder and scandal in a quaint Southern town that took the nation by storm. Berendt’s novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil spent more time on the New York Times Bestseller List than any other piece of fiction or nonfiction. This tale of a murder and other oddities which Savannah tucks away in it’s proverbial â€Å"closet† takes place during the 1980‘s and 1990‘s. Upon reading this novel I became obsessed with the idea of visiting Savannah, and in 2002 I was able to make this obsession a reality. With a much needed Spring Break in sight, my boyfriend and I decided to take a weekend jaunt to the â€Å"Hostess City of the South†. After our classes were over and our bags were packed, we finally headed out of Tallahassee on the afternoon of March 8th. We traveled east on I-10 and drove the mind-numbing 166 mile stretch to Jacksonville. The sad thing about interstates is that they are generally bland with only an occasional view of different scenery. We breezed past the generic fields and even more generic patches of forest that characterize I-10 along the Florida Panhandle. Shortly after merging with I-95 north of Jacksonville the area surrounding the interstate morphed into swampland as we crossed the Nassau, and later St. Mary‘s Rivers. We whizzed by an abundance of saw grass and swamp cypress, which was a nice change from the pine forests of Florida. Another change that we noticed around Brunswick, Georgia was the gas prices†¦only $0.99/gallon! Of course, we stopped to fill up and then proceeded to drive the ninety-five miles to our hotel in Hardeeville, South Carolina. Hardeeville was only fifteen miles from Savannah and we had a free hotel room there courtesy of a Ramada rewards program. The lax South Carolina laws on fireworks sales have made it a very lucrative business judging from all of the highway signs.

Succubus Shadows Chapter 9

â€Å"She couldn't have!† I exclaimed. â€Å"He was with me all night.† â€Å"Not after the concert ended,† pointed out Roman. â€Å"You know, I think that band might really be going somewhere.† Whatever trace of sentiment he'd shown earlier with me had vanished in Carter's presence. â€Å"Simone was hanging out in that twenty-four-hour coffee shop,† Carter said. â€Å"Seth went there to work after – what was it you said? You were at a concert?† â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"Blue Satin Bra.† The angel gave Roman a nod of agreement. â€Å"Those guys are great.† â€Å"Hey, can we stick to the issue here?† I gave both of them glares. â€Å"What happened with Seth and Simone?† Carter shrugged. â€Å"Same as usual. He came in and noticed her first, though. She had her head in a book – didn't even look up until he walked over.† â€Å"Well played,† I said. â€Å"Forces him into the aggressive role.† â€Å"I don't think Seth's ever really in an aggressive role,† mused Carter. â€Å"It just put him in a position to make the first move, if he wanted to be polite.† During our brief affair, Seth and I had made love so tenderly and so sweetly that poets would have wept at its beauty. Other times, things had been downright dirty, and I think Carter might have reconsidered his comment about Seth being aggressive, had the angel known. â€Å"Then what?† I demanded. â€Å"Like I said, the same. They talked about different things – a lot of topics interesting to Seth, really. I think she might have done some research on him.† â€Å"Fucking lovely.† I collapsed onto the couch, and then I promptly shot back up. â€Å"I'm going over there – â€Å" â€Å"Gone,† interrupted Carter. â€Å"They went separate ways, and then she bagged some guy, and I decided it was time for me to fly away.† â€Å"Lucky bastard,† grumbled Roman. â€Å"You have no idea what kind of shit I had to sit through.† The hint of a smile flickered on Carter's face before he turned back to me. I sighed and sat back down. â€Å"Confronting her's no good anyway. You already did it, and nothing came of it. I'm guessing this would just be a repeat.† Probably a good point. Being in a conflict with a succubus kind of sucked. I could punch Hugh or the vampires, and even with immortal healing, they'd still sport a black eye for a few hours – longer if I was really good. But with a succubus? I could smack her around, and she'd shape-shift the damage. And as for verbal fighting? Well, seeing as I had no real leverage, I'd probably just fuel her further and provide more cat fight entertainment for my friends. â€Å"Well,† I said to Roman. â€Å"I think I'm pissed off enough now that you don't have to go to bed with me.† Carter's eyebrow rose again. â€Å"I mean, he doesn't have to watch me sleep,† I explained. â€Å"I was kind of glum earlier, and we were worried my mystery†¦thing†¦might show up again.† â€Å"Why glum?† asked Carter. He attempted innocence, but I wasn't fooled. Even without being at the concert, he could easily figure out what had me down. â€Å"Long story.† Those silvery gray eyes bored into me, and I shifted and looked away. I hated when he did that. It was like he could see into my soul. That was a place I didn't even want to look at – let alone have others do it. I attempted a change in subject. â€Å"You know, I was thinking about this thing that's going on†¦this force or siren song or whatever. It's not like what happened with Nyx, but there's still a dreamlike quality to it, you know? I mean, it certainly seems like I'm sleepwalking. Do you think she could be back?† â€Å"Nope,† said Carter. â€Å"She's definitely still locked up. I checked myself.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Really.† I didn't follow up with the obvious question. Had Carter done it for me? I mean, checking up on Nyx probably wasn't too hard for him. He probably just asked some angel buddy who asked another angel†¦etc. It still made me wonder about Carter's endgame. Why go to such trouble for me? Why look into this? Why track Simone? His expression made me think he guessed my thoughts, something I hated. â€Å"Thanks,† I said. â€Å"But I think I'm heading to bed now.† â€Å"And I,† said Carter, â€Å"am going to get a drink.† â€Å"Done with Simone for good?† asked Roman. Carter made a dismissive gesture. â€Å"At least for tonight. I'll find her in the morning.† â€Å"You're kind of a slacker spy,† I pointed out, though I definitely understood his reasons for avoiding the other succubus' liaisons. His only response was another smile before he vanished. â€Å"Now what?† I wondered aloud. â€Å"Now,† said Roman, â€Å"you get your beauty sleep so that I can have another captivating day of listening to you give recommendations for people who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code.† â€Å"You know you love it,† I said, walking off toward my bedroom. â€Å"Sure you don't want company?† I glanced back at him and studied his face, the lovely lines of it and blue-green eyes like the Mediterranean of my youth. His expression was speculative, wry humor twisting his lips. I couldn't entirely tell if he was joking. Or what his exact meaning was. â€Å"Positive.† My words were a little bolder than I felt, but the night passed uneventfully, again furthering the idea that my blue moods were the target. Consequently, this put me in a good mood when I went to work the next day. I even wore yellow in an attempt at further cheeriness and greeted my coworkers with such enthusiasm that Doug wanted to know what drugs I was taking – and if he could have some. All of that changed when, while headed for the science fiction section, I felt something totally unwelcome: an immortal signature. A succubus immortal signature. And I knew exactly which succubus it belonged to. I did a 180, took a few steps, and tried to pinpoint its direction. Fiction. I headed straight over there, and sure enough, there was Simone – with Seth. She wore that guise I'd heard reports of, the bookish – yet sexy – brunette. They were standing by Seth's section, and she was holding up one of his paperbacks, Idiosyncraso. I knew she could feel my signature as I approached, but her eyes stayed on Seth, her conversation not missing a beat. â€Å"You really wrote this in college?† â€Å"Yup,† he said. â€Å"It wasn't the first I had published, though. I shelved it for years before digging it out and revising it.† â€Å"Cool,† she said, flipping through the pages. â€Å"I can't wait to read it. It'll give me something to do before your next one.† â€Å"Well, don't get your – oh, hey.† Seth had spotted me. I came to a stop beside them, and Simone turned toward me politely. â€Å"How's it going?† I asked, voice harsher than I intended. Seth, always sensitive to me, looked a little surprised at my tone but didn't acknowledge it. â€Å"Fine. Georgina, this is Kelly. Kelly, Georgina. Georgina's the manager here.† â€Å"Hi, Kelly.† I shook her hand with a hardness she matched, and we both continued grinning at each other like Stepford Wives. â€Å"I met Kelly at a coffee shop,† said Seth mildly, not aware he was in succubus crossfire. â€Å"Told her she should see the store sometime.† â€Å"It's great,† said Simone, all adorable innocence. â€Å"I'm a big reader. I love all things books. And meeting one of my favorite authors has given me great insight.† â€Å"Well,† said Seth, a little embarrassed at the attention. â€Å"I don't know how much insight I'm really offering.† Simone laughed. â€Å"Lots. I feel like I'm getting something from you each time I see you.† â€Å"Have you seen each other a lot?† I asked. â€Å"Kelly moved to Queen Anne,† said Seth. â€Å"So we keep running into each other.† â€Å"It's a great area,† I said. â€Å"Where do you live?† Simone faltered. â€Å"Um, on Queen Anne.† â€Å"Street, Avenue, or Drive?† Seth seemed surprised at the interrogative style of the question. Simone turned nervous. â€Å"Eh, Avenue.† Damn. Lucky guess. Queen Anne Street didn't exist. â€Å"Nice place.† Turning my back on her, I looked at Seth. â€Å"I came over because I heard someone say Maddie was looking for you.† That wasn't true at all. Maddie wasn't even in for another hour. I gave Simone a casual glance. â€Å"Maddie's his fianc? ¦e.† â€Å"I didn't think she was in yet,† said Seth. Why, of all days, would his memory be up and running today? â€Å"Maybe I misheard,† I said with a shrug. â€Å"But I figured you'd want to check.† â€Å"I will,† he said, still a little puzzled. â€Å"I need to show Kelly one more book.† She shot me a triumphant look, but I knew she'd accomplished nothing with Seth. He had that expression he got when he was so focused on something – in this case, the history of books – that he was distracted from the world. â€Å"Kelly† was a pleasant coincidence. Simone was too overconfident to notice. Seth turned back to the shelves, and me staying would have seemed awkward. With his attention elsewhere, I shot Simone a warning look. â€Å"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around.† â€Å"Oh,† she said with a serene smile, â€Å"you will.† When I got home later that day, I was ready to break some furniture. â€Å"Did you see – â€Å" â€Å"Yes, yes, I saw,† said Roman, materializing beside me. â€Å"Calm down.† I let out a small cry of frustration, something primal with no real form. â€Å"I can't believe that bitch! Can't believe she'd actually do it right in front of me! She did it on purpose. She did it on purpose to taunt me.† Roman was the picture of tranquility as he leaned against the wall, a far cry from my frazzled, pacing state. â€Å"Of course she did. It's like mobsters who threaten their victims in a crowd – there's absolutely no way you could have fought back, not with that many witnesses.† â€Å"Nice analogy,† I muttered. â€Å"Maybe there'll be a horse head in my bed next.† â€Å"I could leave one in hers, if it would help,† he offered. That almost made me smile. Almost. Except I wasn't entirely sure he was joking. â€Å"The really comical part is that Seth brought it about, you know? He was trying to stay away from me and walked right into this.† â€Å"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.† I didn't dignify that with an answer. â€Å"Look,† he said in all seriousness, taking a few steps toward me. â€Å"It sucks that she's doing this, and we can definitely rule out coincidence. But if Seth's with Maddie while she's there, you know nothing's going to happen. And Carter will report back to us. No point in getting worked up over it.† â€Å"Easier said than done. Nothing's going to distract me from this.† He moved closer still and rested his hands on my upper arms. â€Å"Oh? When was the last time you went dancing?† I blinked in surprise. The last time I'd been dancing? It had been a salsa lesson at the bookstore earlier this year, after which Seth and I had ripped each other's clothes off in my office. â€Å"A while ago,† I said evasively, thrown off by both the question and his fingertips on my skin. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Let's go out,† he said. â€Å"There are a million places we can go. Any kind of dance you want. If memory serves, you're an okay dancer.† I narrowed my eyes. â€Å"I'm an excellent dancer, and you know it.† He leaned his face closer. â€Å"Then prove it.† â€Å"Irrelevant. I don't feel like going out.† Roman sighed and stepped away. I found I was a little disappointed to have him let go. â€Å"Man,† he said. â€Å"I remember when you used to be fun. I'm glad I left town when I did.† He walked over to my entertainment center and knelt down. â€Å"Well, if Muhammed won't come to the mountain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Good grief. You're a wealth of religious proverbs tonight, aren't you?† â€Å"Hey, just trying to – Jesus Christ. CDs? You do know the Dark Ages ended a long time ago.† He pointed at my collection with disdain. â€Å"Everyone's gone digital now. You know, those little magical devices that store music? Or do you consider them some kind of witchcraft?† â€Å"Technology changes every year. Jump on a fad, and you're obsolete before you know it.† â€Å"Honestly, it's a wonder you aren't cooking over a fire in the middle of your living room.† â€Å"You forget – I don't cook.† â€Å"I live here. I haven't forgotten.† By then, he'd put one of my â€Å"archaic† CDs in the player. I laughed. â€Å"You're one to talk about ancient history. This is old school.† â€Å"Nah.† He rose and offered me his hands. â€Å"This is classic. Never goes out of style.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said, as the music began playing. â€Å"All the kids are doing foxtrot nowadays. Geez, it's even the slow style.† But I still let him take hold of my hands. â€Å"Hey, you're the one who owns that CD.† We both fell into the steps effortlessly, gliding around the living room and managing to dodge the furniture with some grace. Roman had a long list of flaws, but one of his better traits was that he was almost as good a dancer as me. â€Å"Why do you dance so well?† I asked, stepping over Aubrey. She didn't seem concerned at all about getting squashed and had shown no signs of moving when we began to dance. â€Å"What kind of a question is that? Why do you dance so well?† â€Å"Natural instinct, I guess. That's what I'm wondering. Was it something you were born with? Or is it something you can't help but perfect over the years? I mean, you've been around for a while. I suppose if you put your mind to something that long, you can't help but master it.† He laughed. â€Å"To tell you the truth, I don't know. Maybe it's in the blood.† â€Å"Oh, come on. I cannot picture Jerome out on the dance floor.† â€Å"Not him. My mother. She was a dancer. A slave girl for this king a long, long time ago†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Roman's gaze turned inward. He didn't seem angry, so much as nostalgic. â€Å"Of course, he was pretty pissed off when she got pregnant. That kind of thing tends to ruin the chorus line.† â€Å"What happened to her?† I hadn't been around that long ago, but certain things stayed the same through time. Slaves who angered their masters got beaten or sold to someone else. Or worse. â€Å"I don't know. Jerome took her away, off to some village where she could be a free woman.† I frowned. I still had trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of my boss falling – romantically and divinely – for a mortal. â€Å"Did he stay with her? He would have been a demon by then†¦.† â€Å"He never came back. First time I saw him was last year. My mother didn't hold a grudge, though. She would talk about him all the time†¦said he was beautiful. I don't know if she meant as an angel or a demon, though. Probably he looked the same, seeing as they're the same beings, really.† â€Å"I'm guessing he didn't look like John Cusack though.† â€Å"No.† This made Roman laugh again. â€Å"Probably not. My mother took on mundane jobs whenever we moved villages – washing woman, field worker. But at least she was free. And she still danced sometimes. I saw her once, when I was really young†¦just before she was killed. There was a festival, and I remember her dancing in front of the fire, wearing this red dress.† All mirth disappeared from him. â€Å"That image is burned into my mind. I can see how an angel would have fallen for her.† I didn't ask any questions about how she was killed. In those days, it could have been as simple as a raid or attack. They were commonplace. Or, more likely, she'd been killed in an attempt on Roman and his sister. He'd once mentioned that they were always on the run from angels and demons. â€Å"So maybe you learned to dance as a subconscious tribute to her,† I said, shifting to something lighter. That half-smile returned. â€Å"Or maybe I just inherited my father's attraction to graceful, sensual women.† The song ended, and we stood there, frozen in time with our hands still entwined. Foxtrot was hardly the bumping and grinding seen in modern clubs, but our bodies were close, and I felt like I could sense the heat from his. Whether it was real or imagined, I couldn't say. But I did know there was something very seductive about dancing, about mirroring another's body, and somehow, I wasn't surprised when he leaned down and kissed me. I was a little surprised that I kissed him back. But not for long. Because as our lips met, I realized how much I'd come to regard Roman as a comforting fixture in my life. We'd grown from adversaries to friends to†¦what? I didn't entirely know. I did know that I liked having him around and that I'd never really shaken the attraction that had drawn me to him long ago. I also knew that I was lonely for the touch of someone I liked and that I had an automatic instinct to respond to this sort of thing. His mouth pressed harder against mine, as hot and demanding as I recalled. His hands quickly moved from the formal orientation of foxtrot to something more intimate and eager, sliding down to my hips and somehow managing to push me against the wall while also shoving my shirt up. My own hands were around his neck, my lower body pressing against his as I felt all my nerves set on fire and lust coursing through me. He managed to break away enough to pull my shirt off, and then his hands moved to my breasts, which were wrapped in a white lace bra. He glanced down and made a face as he pulled from our kiss. â€Å"Can't you make it a front hook?† A small bit of shape-shifting made the bra disappear altogether. â€Å"Don't trouble yourself,† I said. He smiled and moved his lips to my neck while his hands cupped the curves of my breasts. It made it impossible for me to take his shirt off, but I slid my hands under it, loving the feel of his warm skin and taut muscles. I tipped my head back, letting him taste me and increase the intensity of his kissing. And through it all, there were no voices in my head. I heard none of his thoughts, sensed none of his feelings. I was alone – alone with my own reactions, simply enjoying the way my body felt with no other interruptions. It was glorious. I at last managed a break that let me pull his shirt off, and then my hands moved to his pants, putting us in a brief deadlock as he tried to move his lips to my nipples. I won and watched his pants fall to the floor. With that concession, he pulled me down as well and continued his efforts to kiss my breasts, almost kneeling before me as he did so. I ran my hands through his hair, gripping his head while his mouth sucked and teased. As he did, his eyes glanced up and met mine. I saw the desire in them and – something more. Something I hadn't expected to see. There was†¦what? Love? Adoration? Affection? I couldn't quite pin it down, but I recognized the general category. It was a slap to the face. I hadn't anticipated it. Lust, I'd expected. A primitive instinct to throw me down and fuck me, in order to relieve his body's need. For so long, I'd operated on the assumption that he kind of liked me and kind of wanted to hate me. Yet, now, I realized those nice moments we'd had recently weren't coincidence. His sharp attitude had been a facade, meant to hide his feelings. Roman still loved me. I identified it for what it was. He wasn't doing this just because he wanted my body. He wanted me. This was more than just fulfilling a physical instinct for him, and suddenly†¦suddenly, I didn't know what to do. Because I realized then, I didn't know why I was doing this. There was a fair amount of lust on my part, and I'd grown closer to him since his return to Seattle. But the rest†¦? I wasn't sure. There was so much going on right now: Maddie, Simone, Seth†¦Always Seth. Seth, who even now made my heart ache while I was wrapped in the arms of another man. My emotions were a tangle of confusion and hurt and desperation. I was with Roman as some sort of reaction, some attempt to fill the hole in my heart and seek false comfort. My feelings didn't match his. I couldn't do this with him. I didn't deserve to do this with him. I pushed him away and jumped to my feet, backing off toward the hallway. â€Å"No†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I said. â€Å"I can't†¦I can't. I'm sorry.† He stared up at me, understandably confused and a little hurt after the ardor I'd displayed seconds ago. â€Å"What are you talking about? What's wrong?† I didn't know how to explain it, didn't know how I could even begin to articulate what I felt inside of me. I just shook my head and continued backing. â€Å"I'm sorry†¦I'm so sorry†¦I'm just not ready.† Roman sprang to his feet in one graceful motion. He took a step toward me. â€Å"Georgina†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But I was already moving away, off to the safety of my bedroom. I slammed the door behind me – not from anger, but from a desperate need to stay away from him. From the hall, I heard him call my name and feared he'd come in anyway, despite my refusal to answer. I had no lock, and even if I did, it wouldn't stop him. He said my name a few more times, and then silence fell. I think he returned to the living room, backing off and giving me my space. I flung myself onto the bed, gripping the sheets tightly and trying not to cry. That horrible despair that plagued me so often filled me now. It was an old friend, one that I would never be able to leave. All my relationships – friends and lovers – were a mess. I was either hurting them, or they were hurting me. There was no peace for me. There never would be, not for this servant of Hell. And then, through that horrible, clenching pain inside me, I felt the lightest of touches. A whisper. A breath of music, of color, of light. I lifted my head up from where I'd buried it in my pillow and stared around. There was nothing tangible, not exactly, but I could sense it all around me: that warm, comforting siren song. It had no words, yet in my despair, I could hear it perfectly. It was telling me I was wrong, that I could have peace. And not just that – I could have comfort and love and so much more. It was like arms beckoning to me, a mother welcoming home a long-lost child. I slowly rose from my bed, moving toward that which had no form. Come, come. Outside my door, I heard Roman shout my name, but the tone was different from before. This wasn't confusion or pleading. It was frantic and concerned. The sound was grating to my ears as I stepped closer to that beautiful warmth. It was home. It was an invitation. All I had to do was accept. â€Å"Georgina!† The door blew apart, and Roman stood there, blazing with power. â€Å"Georgina, stop – â€Å" But it was too late. I had accepted. All that joy and protection wrapped around me, taking me into its arms. The world dissolved.